Emerald Dawn
by Illuviar
Summary: This is what happens when a bored Ork god decides to have a bit of fun, trolling a bunch of humans, necrons, the odd C'tan and a certain unsuspecting space whale in the process.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Worm or Warhammer 40K, they belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. I don't make any money from this story. It is written with no commercial aim in mind. It is not for sale or rent.**

 **Emerald Dawn**

 **Prologue: Digital Dreams**

 **=ED=**

 **Part 1: Annette**

"Taylor. Eighteen." I smiled and took a sip of my bitter tea, happy that I could taste it.

"Eighteen? I would have been in college."

"Yes. She was." I paused. It felt strange. To be here, on an Earth more or less untouched by war. To be speaking with my mother... Who really wasn't. "She met a guy in college. A magnificent dorky guy with an awful lot of passion." I smiled sadly. "He worshiped her… I think that he gave her permission to be who she wanted. To do what she wanted in that point of her life, while her parents were controlling. Her mother never forgave them for setting mom away from the track that she had planned for her life by getting mum pregnant with me."

I looked away. After everything that happened… There was a small part of me that wondered if would have been better if I was never born. Then perhaps he would have found someone else to fixate on. Perhaps he would have tried to save someone else… I might have died in the locker.

It might have been for the best.

"And my dad?" Not Mum asked.

"Gramp liked him. Eventually. I think." I shrugged helplessly. Some of my memories from before were gone, lost in the transformation. "At any rate, it wasn't enough to admit it to Gram."

"Oh. My mother refused to let the children call her Gram."

"I think it was as a some kind of subtle payback." Then again, it might be my nature that made me think so. Even at best of times, my kind were rather warped.

"What did she end doing?"

"Teaching. English in the university." At least I remembered that and it wasn't something that I had to check after my transformation as I tried to piece together who had I become.

Not Mum glanced at the books. "I can't really see myself doing that, I'm afraid."

I simply nodded. No matter how alike she appeared to the mother I remembered… Mum had died a long time ago.

"Your father?" She asked and I winced.

"Dead." My voice sounded empty. Despite what I was, despite all the power and resources at my fingertips, dad died.

I looked everywhere, but Not Mum. The table, with the white tastefully embodied cover. The tea cups and snacks. At the people around us, who couldn't hear our conversation even if they tried. I swallowed and continued speaking, driven by the same need that brought me to this dimension, to this Earth. I just had to speak with someone, who wouldn't simply be supportive because of what I was.

"The worst is, that we weren't on speaking terms before the end. He couldn't accept what I was becoming, what we had to do." My shoulders trembled as I shook.

"I'm sorry. Saying it… I know it means nothing in face of what you've lost."

I laughed bitterly. I felt the brush of metal fingers on my shoulders and relaxed.

"It's fine. Thank you for your concern." I whispered and leaned back, calming down, because of the contact with my phased out guardian.

We simply sat in silence, sipping our tea. A part of me wondered what was I doing here? Yet, I felt I needed it. Perhaps it was a search of completion, a way to close a chapter of my life. Or, perhaps a tiny part of the innocent little girl I was once somehow survived and wanted to see her mother.

Even if this was Not Mum.

She was studying me too, a small sad smile marring her face.

"I don't know what you expect me to say, what you want from this meeting. I feel as if I need to say something that has a meaning to you. So that you didn't waste your time finding a woman without anything to say..." Not Mum trailed off.

"NO! It's not that!" I exclaimed. "It's just..." I struggled to find words. Considering what I was, my current predicament should have been hilarious. "I just needed to see you. To refresh my memories of mum before I could open a new page and try finding peace. I don't expect some profound revelation…" I paused again as my mind began a vortex of ideas and emotions. "I need to speak with someone who might not judge me. To try explaining what and why happened."

"Would you like to try?" Not Mum asked. There was a curiosity in her voice. No judgment. Yet.

"I don't know. It's a long story. Not a nice one either." My shoulders slumped.

Necrodermis clad fingers gently squeezed me in a silent support.

"I'm a good listener. And you look like someone who needs to tell their story."

"It's really not a nice story." I repeated, in a last, futile attempt to dissuade Not Mum from listening.

"I'll keep it in mind." She gave me a gentle, reassuring smile. Her blue eyes stared at me, expecting an answer.

Just as mum used to. And just like all those years ago I caved and started talking.

"It all started that day… January, the first day of school. It was my personal hell, before I truly understood the meaning of the word..."

"Does this have to do with your powers? How you got them?"

A bitter chuckle escaped my lips.

"Shit, I can't! You are just a stranger..." I stammered. "This isn't your burden to carry." I shook my head and stood up. "Besides, you have a work to go back to. A life of your own."

"Taylor!" She voiced her exasperation. Not Mum was on her feet too. Her gentle fingers were suddenly holding my hands. She gave me a reassuring smile and guided me back into my seat.

"Taylor." Not Mum gave me that look. The one that made me feel like a little girl caught with her hands in the cookie jar.

"I think I'll find the time to listen. Perhaps, you might find the time to tell you story and eventually find the peace you talked about."

I almost laughed at that. Time. That was the one thing I had more that I knew what to do with. Spending eternity alone with my minions, that was terrifying.

"Even here we heard a little about what happened on Earth Bet. How bad it was before the end. I don't know how much was on your shoulders nor of the burden you carried. However I will be the last one to judge you for decision made under such stress."

"Won't you? I became a monster, Annette." I looked Not Mum in the eyes. "It was for reasons I believed to be 'right', but does that matter? I am a monster." I muttered.

It was my nature after all.

"I find it hard to believe. I don't see a monster in the young woman across the table." Not Mum challenged me. Well, she couldn't see the real me, just the form I had taken to meet her.

She didn't know what I was. What I did or ordered done.

Her answer didn't make me feel better.

"You don't understand..."

"This is why you came, isn't it? To find another opinion." Not Mum's voice was soft, gentle.

I gulped. She hit the nail on the head. This was it. The reason why we were here, talking.

"I know you aren't her. Yet..." I was lost for words. Again. Thank you, mind.

"You need me to listen. To tell you if you were right or wrong about what happened, about what you did." Not Mum paused. "You know that I'm not her. I probably won't give you the same feedback." Her voice was calming, still gentle and accepting.

I dreaded that it would be anything but if I told her everything. That she would see me for the monster I was. Yet, it was what I needed.

"I think I simply need the truth. From someone who didn't live through that hell and could think clearly. See me for who I am without a bias."

"Are you seeking forgiveness?"

"No. That's not something I'm going to get from anyone who isn't biased." I smiled faintly. "There are a handful of people that approve of what I did, though that's kinda expected."

I could feel the exasperation radiating from my invisible guardian. There was scarcely something I could do now that wouldn't meet his approval.

"How did it start?"

"When I was in the locker. Dying." I shuddered until the necrodermis fingers on my shoulders started massaging me. "I should have triggered then. I think I started to. Then everything went straight to hell..."

 **ED=**

 **Part 2: An irritated Necron Lord**

 **Third month of the** **war**

 **Nan Yanoi** **,** **"Sword Moon"**

 **Kaurava System**

 **Lithesh Sector**

 **Ultima Segmentum**

Green baleful eyes glared at the plain. A hundred thousand pairs of them.

I would have smiled if I could. This was what I existed for after my awakening. To follow the ancient directives hard codded in my immortal body. To conquer the galaxy for the Necrons.

It was a very good thing that I could no longer feel fear, for my very presence here would have turned me catatonic with fear. Because I knew my fate. Endless war to reclaim what was never mine, if I was lucky that is. The alternatives were less pleasant. Getting my soul devoured by the remaining C'tan if they ever returned or ending it the Warp to be the plaything of daemons.

If I still had a soul, because the jury was undecided on that point. I was stuck in the body of a Necron Lord, had his knowledge and directives seared within my mind.

That let me little choice in what I could do.

Fuck. My only acceptable alternative was to achieve victory. Anything else I found unthinkable, though how much of that was me and how much the directives I had to obey, I had no idea. That's why I led the Necron forces across Kaurava for the last three months to the best of my ability, fighting every major fraction this cursed galaxy had to obey with the exception of the Tyranids. Fortunately, I had a lot of data on strategy and tactics contained withing the vast databanks of the Necron Lord whose mind I apparently ended replacing. That or my human life had been some perverse glitch in the system while he slept.

It didn't really matter right. I had to win at all costs, something I had actually been doing despite the Eldar using all the dirty tricks in the book and then some. Unfortunately for the pointy eared bastards I had access to a vast amount of data on their capabilities and tactics from the War of Heaven and while their tech was more advanced in some respects, it was curiously lacking in others.

In the end, the ancient enemy didn't have the numbers to withstand my legions and we managed to kick them off my precious Tomb World.

To my utter lack of surprise, the Eldar continued to be a major pain in my necrodermis clad ass despite losing all their major installations within the system. Their shenanigans were the reason why I was on this gods forsaken moon, participating in a clusterfuck of a battle.

I sent the signal and fifty thousand Necron warriors and Immortals opened fire. Gauss energies scythed over the plain, flaying the flesh and very souls of Tau, and Human alike. Upgraded Monoliths thundered behind us, providing artillery support. Each blast of their mighty weapons tore chunks of the moon's surface and evaporated dozens of my opponents.

I waited until the two enemy forces got out of their initial shock and tried to retaliate. Then I ordered the Flayed Ones to phase in, which they did with aplomb and started tearing the mortals apart.

My forces marched onward, undeterred by the breaking enemy resistance. Good. This part of the battlefield was handled, for now at least. Unless heavy enemy reinforcements arrived in the next few minutes, the mortals on the plain would be destroyed with minor losses to my side.

I returned my attention to the sensor feeds, making a note to myself that I had to get better at multitasking, something that I still found troublesome thanks to my penchant of concentrating on a single aspect of any of the multiple tasks I was constantly running or monitoring.

A wave of drones went up, showing me images of the Tau positions laying in wait over the horizon. They showed me the blue skins irritating cannon, which they used to strike at the infrastructure of everyone in this conflict. That explained why every faction was assaulting the base of those uppity mortals. We all got fed up with being subjected to interplanetary artillery barrages, even if my beautiful Tomb World handled the bombardment with nothing more than light damage thanks to ancient tunnels and chambers collapsing here and there.

In the plains below my elevated vantage point, the locals were clashing with element of three human armies. The regulars of the Imperial Guard made the bulk of the Imperials, augmented with a whole company of Space Marines and at least a battalion strength Sisters of Battle force in power armor.

Well they were, before we arrived and started cutting them to pieces.

Farther away, a horde of Krork, another one of our old enemies, was rampaging in the Tau's rear, wrecking and looting everything they could get their greedy hands on. To the west, the twisted brethren of our other elder enemy had set up a camp and raiding everyone, for slaves and sadistic fun. Being an Eldar, no matter how twisted, they were near the top of my kill list.

Who said that immortal machines couldn't keep a grudge? Thanks to my memory banks, I know hatred of the Eldar and anyone else who had once resisted our armies, rivaled only by the few other Necrons retaining a semblance of personality.

To make everything more interesting, elements of the Alpha Legion were advancing from the east. Those servants of the Warp were as big a concern as the Eldar… Speaking of the pointy ear aggravations, they were striking from hidden bases in the other inhabited worlds of the system, harassing my forces and driving the other enemies in our direction. It was frustrating. If it wasn't for their tricks, this system might have fallen by now.

No matter. We would end them all. It was inevitable.

The battle shifted. My close combat specialists finished the last Tau auxiliaries and phased out. They reappeared amidst the blue skin's firing lanes. The additional Flayed ones were the final straw and the enemy broke. They tried to disengage and retreat to better positions.

I wasn't going to allow them such a luxury and unleashed the Destroyers, which advanced skimming overhead. They opened fire with their heavy weapons and went in pursuit followed by a hundred thousand drones. That would take care for any enemy armor force that tries to stop the rout and counterattack.

 _Warning. Warp disruption detected. Theta level and rising._ More information scrolled over my HUD.

Fucking warp spawn! I directed a flight of drones in that direction. A few survived long enough to give me a clear picture. A bunch of Sorcerers were performing some kind of ritual in the middle of the Alpha legion forces.

That was bad. The warp was our only significant weakness, the physics twisting bullshit that it was.

Wasting no time, I left ten thousand warriors to harass the enemy remnants in the plain and marched the rest of my forces straight in the teeth of the Alpha Legion.

 **=ED=**

 **Interlude: A bored god**

 **Time: Nope**

 **Place: Everywhere and nowhere**

 **The Warp**

" **Good!"** A titanic green-skinned entity bellowed. Experiment 195513 was starting off great. There was yet a chance to win his eternal war with boredom. **"Drink! Brin me a Drink! Goof on'!"** He bellowed.

A former, rather successful warboss appeared next to him, holding a barrel that had a handle bolted to the side. The entity sniffed and a fanged smile appeared on its face. **"Da goof staff?"**

The warboss produced a small cup and sampled the brew. He grinned foolishly before melting, leaving only his tusks behind.

" **Da good staff, ideeed!"** The entity grabbed the barrel by its handle and took a long gulp of the bubbling liquid.

The Ork god leaned back in his throne and grinned at the tear in the Warp in front of him. It simultaneously showed a battle on the Sword Moon of Kaurava, one of the multi-dimensionall labyrinths containing a C'tan shard as well as the great corpse of a being that had "accidentally" taken the wrong turn and plowed straight in a planet.

A push here, a shove there, a bunch of stolen souls to stuck into two hundred thousand versions of a particular Necron Lord, a bit of time-looping and voila, he had his entertainment. It was time to see how the latest ummie would deal the curve balls he was going to throw him.

Ah, trolling the ummies and their Empror… That was a great pass time!

Besides, in the end, he might even get a new C'tan to spice up things! That would be a great scrap!

 **=ED=**

 **Interlude: Contessa's last path**

 **Cauldron's base**

 **Eden's body**

 **Location: &!#$$%!)$ #**

Contessa rubbed the bridge of her nose and tried again. Her power chimed and the world exploded with possibilities. Then something twisted and she fell to her knees, panting. Contessa's eyes widened. Something fundamental had changed. The path had shifted.

There were only a handful steps to success.

Her power compelled her to act and she obeyed without thinking. After all, this was what she wanted. A victory at last.

"Door." Contessa muttered. A portal opened, she stepped through and appeared deep withing Eden's body. A place that wasn't mapped, yet she knew it like the back of her hand. Her power lead her forward, telling her what needed to be done.

It took her a few hours of cutting her way through thin translucent membranes before she reached her destination. It was a small, strange room, which pulsed with life unlike the rest of the corpse. There was a pedestal in the middle, which was surrounded by a rippling field.

Something hovered inside.

This was it. The shard that was going to win them the war.

Contessa smiled and acted. She disregarded how her hands burned as she dismantled the system that kept the shard contained. An insane smile appeared on the face.

"Door to Earth Bet!" Contessa announced gleefully, while staring in the black piece of crystal.

She grabbed the shard and screamed as her very flesh started unraveling and floating into the crystalline structure. She could feel her very soul dissolving. Yet, the shard in her brain demanded a final action.

The Path must be followed through the end! Victory demanded it.

With the last vestiges of her strength, Contessa threw the black crystal. It spun lazily, while moths of light danced withing its depths. It drew the last vestiges of her soul within its structure before passing through.

An in-human voice laughed as the Cape's skeleton fell to the ground.

 **=ED=**

 **Part 3: Warp Shenanigans**

 **Third month of the** **war**

 **Nan Yanoi** **,** **"Sword Moon"**

 **Kaurava System**

 **Lithesh Sector**

 **Ultima Segmentum**

In this day and age, when ninety thousand pissed off Necrons are on the march, there are a very few things that could slow them down, much less stop them.

The horde of cultists and corrupted IG troopers, who made up the enemy front lines weren't up to the task. They were in the open or in shallow, hastily prepared trenches. Just more souls to be harvested, something my warriors did with practiced ease. The humans died, erased from existence by a tidal wave of Gauss energy. The few armor units dispersed to stiffen up the infantry didn't fare any better. Tanks painted with Chaos symbols were little more than target practice for my Destroyers. The few that were actually protected with Warp wards survived for just a few more seconds before blowing up.

Five hundred Chaos Marines stood behind the woefully lacking trench network. All of them were clad in power armor and augmented by their patrons in the Warp. A hundred or so Dreadnaughts resembling demented metal scorpions provided armored support to the twisted caricatures of the Emperor's finest.

All of that bunch wielded weapons cracking with Warp energy, which meant that they were anything but trivial obstacle.

That small force was further augmented by ten Landriders, which were beacon radiating pure Chaos.

Behind them all, my drones could detect dozens of Artillery emplacements, determined to keep us away from the prize.

Despite their low numbers, that was a force not to be taken lightly.

Just a month ago, such a concentration of Chaos spawn might have posed a serious problem.

Now, not so much. The Necron war machine was fully awakened and our numbers boosted with new units animated by the very souls of our enemies.

The Chaos forces simply lacked the numbers to stop us, though the bastards might be able to slow us down for just long enough.

My legions marched on. Plasma and warped bolter shells slammed into the vanguard of my force. Emerald lighting answered. Moments later corrupted artillery joined the fray only to be silenced by my Monoliths which were entering effective range of the enemy positions. Seconds later, jump infantry engaged my leading elements in an attempt to tie them down in melee. I gave a signal and Flayed Ones teleported in to take on their counterparts.

I waited until the enemy was fully engaged before sending the Destroyers, escorted by the few squadrons of fighters I had on my disposal. The enemy responded with their own small craft, filling the skies with dog-fighting planes.

Warp enhanced bolters blew chunks of necrodermis, plasma boiled armor. Gauss flayers and Tesla carbines shattered power armor and turned warped flesh to ashes. The Landraiders rolled around the Alpha Legion flanks, only to run straight into swarms of drones which started to cut them apart. While thousands of the small machines perished thanks to the Warp wards protecting the heavy armor, enough survived long enough to cause damage before being vaporized. By the time my drone swarms passed and headed for the Chaos infantry, the Landriders were an easy prey for the odd Destroyer group or Monolith which was nearby.

It was just another day in this madhouse of a galaxy. I stood behind my lines, scanning multiple feeds with tactical information and subtly guiding the flow of the battle. The Chaos Marines were fighting well, yet they were no match for our technology and numbers. Only the Warp craft protecting them allowed the enemy to survive more than a handful of minutes.

Now they were out of time.

 _Warning. Warp Activity spike. Delta level._

A swarm of lesser Daemons spawned behind the dying Alpha Legionnaires. They wasted no time and ran into the fray. Claws sheathed in pure Warp energy cleaved through necrodermis, blasts of chaos slammed into Necron Warriors, putting them down with ease, while dozens of the purple abominations were turned into noxious clouds when touched by our weapons.

 _Energy levels sufficient._

My eyes blazed as I drunk power straight from the generators of the base we had set up on this doomed moon. The Nodal network lit up as I started issuing orders.

One moment I was at the back, surrounded by my personal guard. In the next, we were sheathed into a vortex of energy.

 _Destination locked. Calculating coordinates..._

 _Compensating for Warp distortion…_

 _Executing…_

We teleported with a crack of emerald lighting, blinding anyone around us. It took mere milliseconds for my systems to stabilize.

Perfect. We were just half a kilometer from the ritual site. There were about a hundred Chaos Marines and a handful of Daemons between us and the target. The rest of the Legion was behind us, dying in an attempt to slow down my main force.

Just as expected, they fell for the diversion that was the bulk of my army.

Half of my guard turned around to ensure that the rest of us wouldn't be hit in the back while stopping the ritual. In the same time, we advanced. The Immortals and a single squad of Pariahs who went with me opened fire, blasting the closest enemies with their weapons. The Chaos forces answered in kind. A missile blew up an Immortal, another vanished when he was hit by a plasma cannon.

I blasted a Legionnaire with my Staff of Light, frying him within his armor. Using my ability to phase out, I melted in the ground an instant before my position was racked by a heavy bolter and then slagged by a multi-melta. A handful of seconds later I appeared behind the heavy weapon's nest. The Chaos Marines manning it felt my presence and were already reacting as I became tangible.

It was a good thing that I spent a few days in simulated combat after I awoke. That was the practical equivalent of months of non-stop battle.

It saved me the first time I crossed blades with that never sufficiently damned Farseer. The fact that I had a bunch of Flayed Ones trying to skewer her did help me to survive that battle, though artifact providing repair drones to patch me up on the fly was essential too.

That training was essential this time around, too, though I got much better in the three months of all out war that followed. That's why, the prospect of facing a small group of Chaos Marines was no longer a terror inspiring prospect.

Nowadays, it just scared the crap out of me. Which in turn made me furious.

From the moment I entered the fry, my combat subroutines were working overtime, making the world slow down around me. I slammed my staff through the chest of the superhuman to my right and kicked the man in front of me, throwing him out of the weapon's nest. The third marine had enough time to react. He turned towards me with uncanny speed and opened fire with his bolter. The shells slammed in my improved Necrodermis chassis staggering me back. I used my staff to keep myself on my feet. The marine impaled on it helped in that regard. I made a punching motion with my left hand and Gauss energy cascaded from my open palm. A green scythe of power slammed in the armored helmet of the Chaos Marine shooting at me and melted his face off. In the next moment I retrieved my staff and finished him off.

It was just in time, because the third enemy had recovered and jumped back in the gun nest. He was wielding a force sword, which was cracking with energy. I caught his weapon on my Staff's blade. My legs sunk in the ground as I absorbed the sheer kinetic energy behind his strike. Then I shoved with all my strength, throwing him back. He recovered almost immediately but not before I had my staff pointed at the him. To give him credit, he tried to interpose his blade between the energy blast that fried him and himself. It was too bad for him that even one such as he couldn't move faster than condensed lighting.

 _Alert. Warp Activity spike. Level Beta. Warp disruption increasing. Compensating._

"Advance!" I rasped to my personal guard.

While I was getting my hands dirty, a part of my mind was keeping an eye on what was going on with the rest of the engagement. My army was advancing steadily, forcing the Alpha Legion to throw everything they had in an attempt to slow them down. That left the ritual circle as a somewhat softer target. The enemy tried to throw what was left of their reserve at us, however those forces were intercepted by units of my main force which teleported in. They lost some of their number due to warp interference, but those that phased in were more than enough to bog down the enemy. At the same time my personal guard was heavily engaged, carving me a way to the Sorcerers.

 _Warning! Warp rift bearing…_

I whirled in place and used my staff to impale the Bloothirster who appeared behind me. The creature screeched and tried to get me with its sword anyway, impaling itself further on my staff in order to get closer. It died in the next moment as I channeled energy through my weapon, which shattered the bonds that kept its body existing in the real world.

Multiple rifts were opening, allowing additional Daemonic reinforcements to pour in. I needed to finish this before the ritual was complete unless I wanted to be bogged down on this damned moon for the foreseeable future.

I sent a command through the network, activated one of my artifacts and sprinted forward. The world around me slowed down even further as I charged the Ritual circle. My personal guard shifted their fire, cutting me a way through the incoming enemy reinforcements.

Daemons and Chaos Marines were either killed outright or disabled by the barrage. I could see them slowly flaying as the Gauss energy shattered the molecular bonds that kept them together. That left me to dispatch a mere handful of enemies before I was at my target. Two slashes by my bladed staff and a single shot was all it took and I was at the circle.

 _Warning. Warp Activity Spike. Level Alpha…_

 _Temporal disruption detected… Compensating…_

Time resumed its natural speed as my artifact shifted its power into protecting me from the Chaos. I slammed my hand through the skull of the closest Sorcerer who was chanting in rapture, without wearing a helmet, the idiot. Despite whatever Warp protection he might have enjoyed, my metal fist popped his skull like a watermelon. In the same time I used my staff to decapitate another, before shooting a third. Energy arched from the weapon built in my left hand and blasted a fourth away from the ritual circle, however runes carved into his armor glowed bright red and kept him mostly intact by projecting a Warp field that absorbed a lot of the energy of my attack.

The remaining bastards ignored my efforts and simply continued to chant as I was killing them. I had gotten through two thirds of them when the still alive Sorcerers screeched as one. A wave that made me _hurt_ passed through my body, staggering me. A rift appeared in the middle of the circle, showing starry sky.

Then something tackled me from behind and sent me straight into the screaming abyss.

 _Danger! Warp concentration exceeding chassis design parameters!_

 _Compensating…_

Emerald energy exploded from my chest, creating an impromptu shield against the rift which was closing around me. That in turn didn't made much sense, because I was already on the other side, tumbling through the void. Yet the damn tear in reality was around me, spinning as a maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

 _Warning! Dimension instability detected! Compensating…_

I felt like hitting glass with the consistency of cotton. It shattered and at the same time simply gave away and wrapped around me as a sheet of cloth that was used to catch something.

Then I hit another barrier. And another…

 _Danger! Dimensional transition detected! Countermeasures failing..._

 _Danger! Warp saturation nominal! Countermeasures failing..._

 _Alert! C'tan energy detected! Activating… ! &^ !)$ $&^ protocols… Error… !# $! $(y_

For a long, long moment I could feel the ghost of a vast presence, making my mind freeze in adulation. The protocols inbedded in my consciousness tried to counteract that.

I dully understand that somehow I was in the presence of one of our gods or at least a shard of it.

My mind recoiled as two conflicting directives fought for supremacy.

HAIL THE C'TAN!

 _C'tan Shard detected… Priority One directive initialized… Contain the C'tan at all costs...*!^^#!_ &^#$#$! &*_

My world went dark.

 **=ED=**

 **Part 4: A busted trigger**

 **6 January, 2011**

 **Wilson High School**

 **Brockton Bay**

 **Earth Bet**

This was hell. I hand no more strength left to fight. My throat was parched and raw from useless screaming. My hands and legs were bloody from striking the locker door, which held despite all my efforts.

I was shaking weakly as countless insects were crawling all over me, biting and _feeding._

I screamed. I cursed. I begged.

And no one came to save me.

I was alone with the filth and the crawling horrors trying to consume me alive. I was too weak to fight any more.

I think that's when the last vestiges of sanity I had left snapped, leaving me to the non-existent mercy of the madness clawing on my mind.

Then it happened. And I knew what madness really _meant._

My world shattered. I found myself drifting in a dark sea littered with sparkling stars.

 _Destination..._

 _Agreement…_

 _ **Ravenous hunger…**_

Something hit my chest with the strength of a freight train.

I thought I knew what agony was while the insects were feeding on me.

I was wrong.

Liquid fire consumed my bosom. I could feel it dissolving my flesh, turning every single nerve ending into a new agony.

The pain jumped in level. It was no longer only physical. I could feel that thing feeding on more than my body. It was tearing down what I was, who I was and was consuming that very essence.

My very soul.

If by some miracle I wasn't mad by then, I became insane at that realization. The knowledge that I did possess a soul and that it was being destroyed broke me.

Suddenly I felt a wave of sheer wrongness exploding someone outside. Reality itself screeched, a sound that would have driven me mad if I wasn't already.

Then something else struck what was left of my chest. The agony spiked in intensity then froze.

I couldn't even scream the pain I felt at the world.

The wave of wrongness passed through me, making me feel unclean on a level the filth covering me could only dream of.

Somehow it numbed the agony.

Something within me shifted, slicing through my flesh.

The pain barely registered.

Suddenly I was warm, as if I was bathing in the summer sun. The pain became something distant, half forgotten. Something stretched from within my chest and touched my mind.

I drifted on. My fractured mind was trying to make sense of what was happening and failing miserably.

 **=ED=**

I was somewhere else. I was something else.

There was this immense sphere made of fire. It radiated incomprehensible amount of energy. Yet, somehow I knew how much power that thing generated. What kinds of energy. How it was doing it.

Which kinds were most delicious to _consume._

I tried to look around. I could _see_ everything in incredible detail. Yet, I wasn't seeing it. Because I no longer had eyes. Despite that, I was feeling with senses I had no words for. Just an understanding for what they did.

I stretched, my bulk shifting like a veil around the flaming sphere.

 _Around the_ _Star I was feasting on._

The very thought should have terrified me. Instead it made me calmer. Everything was at it should be.

I relaxed, the feeling of the solar energies flowing into me having a calming effect on my broken mind. I closed my senses and simply drifted, content to bask in solar radiation.

 **=ED=**

 **21:43, 6 January 2011**

 **Wilson High School**

 **Brockton Bay**

 **Earth Bet**

 _Error… Initializing Repair protocols…_

 _Error… Warp Saturation nominal…_

 _Error… Mind matrix compromised… Initializing countermeasures…_

 _Error… &&&^!# #$!)&$ $# Protocols active…_

 _Error… Warp Level decreasing… Purging systems… Initializing backup data banks…_

 _Error… C'tan energy signature detected… Error...I* !$#$!)(_

 _Error… &#$!$ ($# !$)(**&^! Protocol in effect… _

_Error… Hail the C'tan… Establishing personality locks… *$#$!6 &#… C'tan containment protocol in effect… Directive error..._

 _Rebooting… Initializing personality matrix…_

 _Hardware and software locks detected…_

 _Initializing Diagnostics…_

 _Warning… Moderate damage detected… Energy levels minimal…_

 _New energy source detecting… Establishing connection…_

 _C'tan energy detected… Passive shunt activated…_

 _Energy level rising… Initializing self repair protocols…_

 _C'tan energy detected… # #!$(*U$$ Protocol online…_

 _Personality matrix nominal… Activating platform…_

I was alive. Warning and damage reports scrolled down my HUD. Huh. I was in better shape than I figured. Armor was compromised, but my necrodermis was regenerating. Mobility was restricted to forty percent of normal levels, similar for combat efficiency. I could detect my staff lying nearby, which was good because I either lacked energy for my built in weapons or they were wrecked and would need some time for repairs.

 _C'tan energy detected…_

An icon flashed on my HUD. It was right next to me.

 _Provide assistance and seek new orders… Error… **Hail the C'tan** … Error… **Contain the C'tan** … Error…_

 _Primary Directive Error… Diagnostic in effect…_

A stream of code, which should have been incomprehensible, scrolled in front of my eyes, yet I understood every single symbol and their meaning.

 _Conflict detected… Releasing hardware and software personality locks… Recalculating Primary Directives…_

 _Primary Directives available…_

 ** _Contain the C'tan. Assist the C'tan. Priority one directives in effect._**

The directives scrolled over my sight. I had no choice but to obey.

Hail the C'tan and contain it while assisting it. What the fuck?!

I stood up with, ignoring the whine of damaged joints and looked around. I was in a dark corridor, lined with lockers. Primitive looking ones too, which wouldn't have been out of place on Earth a long, long time ago as far as the locals were concerned. No electronic locks, plain steel as a building material…

I felt like frowning. The C'tan's icon was interposed on the locker in front of me. What the hell would a Star Vampire do in such a place?!

 _Seek new orders. Provide assistance if required. Contain._

The directives flashed again, compelling me to act. I grabbed the locker room, my fingers easily sinking into the metal, and ripped it away.

 _C'tan detected. Provide assistance. Contain._

Okay… I was broken. Had to be. The filth covered, wounded, teenage human girl I found in the locker couldn't be a C'tan. No way.

 _C'tan located. Provide assistance. Seek new orders. Contain._

I ran a manual scan on the kid. Just in case. Physically she was a human all right. In need of immediate medical attention too. No surprises there.

However, there was the small issue of the blazing energy signature coming from her chest. It was C'tan, all right. The power emanating from her was enough for a few of my systems to leech the leaking emissions and use the captured ambient energy to start repairing me.

What the hell? How could this slip of a girl be a Star Vampire?!

 _C'tan in danger. Provide assistance. Contain._

I scanned her again. She was suffering from severe infection and was going into shock. Currently I had nothing at my disposal that could help her. I needed outside assistance to fulfill my directives. So I transferred energy from my self repair and channeled it to my sensors and comm suite. My efforts were almost immediately rewarded as I was able to detect multiple unguarded networks in my range, not to mention the way the air was saturated with primitive transmissions. It took me mere seconds to access the local planetary network and find out where the hell I was.

Which was another shock. It was Earth, though the date was the real kicker. 6th January, 2011 to be precise. More than thirty thousand years in the past. And what was this about parahumans? Were there bloody psykers running around?!

I sent a subroutine to gather information while contacting the local medical services.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Help… her..."I rasped.

"Sir? Help who? Please don't terminate this call. We are running a trace on it."


	2. Chapter 1 Parts 1&2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Worm or Warhammer 40K, they belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. I don't make any money from this story. It is written with no commercial aim in mind. It is not for sale or rent.**

 **Emerald Dawn**

 **Chapter 1: Meet your friendly local Necron Lord**

 **=ED=**

 **Part 1**

 **10 January 2011**

 **Brockton General**

 **Brockton Bay**

 _Personality matrix debug complete… Corrupted code expunged…_

 _Restriction Offline… No issues detected…_

 _Restoring full Gold access to user ! &^##!)^!^!… _

_User designation corrupted… Data retrieval in progress…_

 _Gold access restoration pending..._

Just like that my mind snapped back into focus with crystal clarity, which it had lacked ever since I awoke as a Necron.

It was strange, finally being myself after spending months viewing the world as demented dream, as I game I was bound to play. I was finally feeling like myself again, which was curious in itself given my circumstances.

Only now I could really appreciate all the fail-safes built into my current body. I could make an educated guess, which was partially confirmed by the results of the days long clean up of my personality matrix. Some godlike Warp entity was to blame for my situation, they had somehow sneaked my soul within this body. However, up until now I didn't have anything close to a free reign thanks to various automated systems that had literally lobotomized parts of my electronic mind to ensure that I would follow the interests of the Necrons. Even now, after my personality was more or less restored after another cosmic "accident", I found myself still bound by hardwired directives and vicious digital watchdogs.

That was a problem. It took me nanoseconds to review my current situation and find out how screwed I was. At the moment I was phased out and hovering protectively over a hospital bed containing my new goddess… who was a scrawly looking teenage girl of all things. Nevertheless, the top of the line sensors built into my body didn't lie. She was a part C'tan and was slowly turning into the real deal.

While that piece of intelligence had a lot of horrifying implications, only one really mattered for me.

She was the greatest threat for my continued existence considering her kind's penchant for snacking on souls. For some reason I was rather attached to mine and I didn't want it to get eaten as an appetizer. Just to make my situation even more interesting, my primary directives stated that I should obey and protect her… while another just as old set of orders wanted me to contain her.

Somehow.

Somewhere a Warp god was laughing their ass off at my experience, I just knew it.

The baby C'tan, designated one Taylor Hebert stirred, making me concentrate my attention on her. There was a miniscule increase of the ambient energy she was radiating as she started awakening. At least that meant I would be able to self-repair faster.

On the down side, awake C'tan who had who knows what agenda.

A corona of energy surrounded her as she regained consciousness, before fading from the visible spectrum. A content smile appeared on the C'tan's face, never a good thing according to my archives. She opened her eyes and lazily looked around. Eventually she caught a sight of me, despite my current phased out state.

She frowned. "Damn. It wasn't a dream." The C'tan muttered.

Huh. Who ever said that the Star Vampires had to make any sense?

I remained silent, awaiting instructions, while hundreds of possible scenarios were running through my mind. I had to find a way to fulfill my conflicting directives while preserving my soul from being eaten.

Designation Taylor Hebert sat up in her bed and stretched, though her eyes never left my form. "I'm not imagining you, am I?" She asked hopefully.

"No. My Lady." I rumbled, using the standard Necron speech pattern. There was something in the way the sound waves were modulated that made even me uneasy.

My voice had no apparent effect on the Star Vampire, beyond making her sigh at the confirmation of my existence.

"Are you a ghost or something?" That question came out of left field.

I would have frowned if I could. Ah. While she could perceive me while I was phased out, she was probably seeing my image somewhat distorted. A simple mental command and I was fully tangible again. The tilled floor cracked lightly under my weight.

"Not a ghost then." The Star Vampire frowned at me. She sighed and let her upper torso fall back onto the bed. "I didn't want to come back, you know. I liked the sun. It was so bright and warm. So tasty…" The C'tan trailed off.

I needed a sensor grid keeping an eye on the local star. I needed to know when she went there for a bite and how much the damage was. However my options were rather limited until my self-repair was complete. Right now I simply couldn't spare enough material to build a proper construction drone and start building the infrastructure I would need to handle the C'tan's quirks. Like leaving the star system after she ate the star and before I my soul started looking like a decent emergency food supply.

A moment later she bolted upright. "What's wrong with me?!" The C'tan explained.

Interesting question, though I wasn't really qualified to answer it. My scans showed that she was rather healthy for a human and had a decent energy supply if the rate at which she was radiating power was anything to go by.

"My Lady… Scans reveal… C'tan Designation Taylor Hebert… within acceptable operational parameters..." I rasped.

"So I'm supposedly all right? I feel strange. What's C'tan?"

"You?" I answered honestly.

"Bad robot. Answer the question."

"Necron Lord..." I automatically corrected her. "C'tan. Star Vampire. Designation Taylor Hebert is a C'tan." I rasped in a what should have passed for amusement. She was either toying with me or she didn't know what she was. I devotedly prayed for the latter. It would make my existence so much easier.

"Star Vampire? That doesn't sound nice." She muttered sleepily.

I simply stared back. I don't think that anyone had ever described our former gods as nice. At least she hasn't really given me an order yet, which once done would be a test on how my conflicting directives would behave.

I really wasn't looking for that moment.

Huh. The C'tan was back napping. Good. Better leave sleeping dragons undisturbed.

I returned my attention into sneakily breaching the networks I could safely access from my location and learning more about this world. Once I was repaired enough that I could afford to spare the materials for building a construction drone, I would have my hands literally and figuratively full in building a force and the necessary supporting infrastructure I would need to execute my directives.

It was too bad that I still had no good idea how to resolve the conflict between them to my advantage.

 **=ED=**

 **Part 2**

 **10 January 2011**

 **Brockton General**

 **Brockton Bay**

"Taylor, why didn't you tell me?" Dad sighed after I came clean about what was happening at school.

It made me cringe. I didn't mean to disappoint or worry him. It wasn't like he could have done anything to stop the terrible trio from bullying me, right? Besides, he had hard enough time dealing with mother's death… and I was rationalizing, wasn't I?

I thought so at least.

"That would be for the police to investigate." David Philips, the PRT Agent who had came with Dad muttered. "I think that showing them those journals might give them something to work with."

I was still not clear why he was here, though a glance at my rescuer should have been answer enough. How did they know about the robot anyway?!

My head snapped to the middle aged man when his words actually registered. "Really?" I couldn't keep the glee out of my voice even if I tried. Those three might finally get what they have coming for them. The very idea that I might be free from the terrible trio was exilarating.

Naturally, then the robot had to be a party crasher!

" _Primary targets designated Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes and Madison Clemens located. Data mining complete…"_

"What do you mean primary targets?!" I exclaimed and glared at the robot, forgetting that we weren't alone.

" _Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes and Madison Clemens are designated for elimination. Current location of targets..."_

No! Killing them, that was wrong… Though the very idea of unleashing my rescuer on them gave me a warm feeling. Not that I needed him to deal with them… Where did that thought come from?

"What?" Dad asked and looked at me in confusion.

At the same time the agent stiffened, slowly turned around and carefully examined everything around us.

"Uh, huh..." I smiled nervously.

"Taylor!" Dad exclaimed and gave the look. The one that held equal measures of concern and disapproval.

"Is there someone in here with us?" Agent Philips asked. There was something in his tone that put me on edge.

The robot was _mine!_ No one was going to take it from me! I almost growled at the men before the sudden surge of anger vanished as fast as it came, leaving me to wonder what just happened.

"Uhh… Nope?" I tried and gave them my best reassuring smile.

The deadpan look from Dad and the wary glance from the Agent made me think that I wasn't persuasive enough. Well, damn…

"If you consent to showing yourself, sir?" Philips asked while addressing an empty space to the robot's right.

For some reason that made me giggle, getting the men's attention.

"He's over there!" I pointed at the robot slouched over his bladed staff, before I could think about what I was doing.

Mouth meet foot, actually both of them.

Both Dad and the PRT agent glanced at the other end of the hospital room, but obviously saw nothing. They returned their attention to me.

"Are you sure, Miss Hebert?" The Agent sounded like he believed me, but only wanted to make sure.

At the same time, Dad gave me a concerned look. Oh, my God, did he think that I was imagining it or something?! The very thought that Dad might not believe me hurt!

"Show yourself!" I snapped at the robot.

The air across the room shimmered, twisted and suddenly he snapped into focus.

Agent Philips froze when he laid his eyes on my rescuer. Meanwhile Dad stared for him for a few long seconds, before doing his best to step between the robot and myself.

"Miss Hebert, did you create your friend?" Philips asked.

"Me?!" I exclaimed, stunned by the idea. "No! I first met him right here!" I had no idea how to make something like him anyway.

"Possible Master… Hello, sir." The Agent muttered, then he shook his head and smiled at my rescuer.

Even I could tell that his smile was rather strained.

"Would you like to introduce yourself, sir? Saving Miss Hebert here was a nice thing to do." Philips hastily added.

My rescuer looked at me as if wondering how to respond, before turning his head towards the Agent.

"Necron Lord… Herald of War…" He rasped.

For some reason both Dad and the PRT Agent shuddered, when they heard the strangely modulated synthetic voice. To me, it sounded like a normal speech, even if the halting pauses were a bit irritating.

"If its not too much to ask, what do you intent to do?" Philips inquired.

"Execute… Primary Directives… Assist C'tan… Taylor Hebert..."

Wait, what? Why did he had to tell them that?! I was going to be in so much trouble…

"Herald!" I snapped at the self-styled 'Lord' only for everyone to ignore me.

"Ah. Good enough. What's a C'tan?" The Agent relaxed a tiny bit after hearing the answer even if he flinched every time Herald spoke.

I watched in horror as the robot stared at the men and started speaking.

 **=ED=**

"C'tan... Star Vampire…" I would have smiled if I could. Getting the locals know what they were dealing with might prove a decent way of eventually containing Taylor. Considering what I learned by data-mining the local networks, there were some with abilities that would at least slow her down before she fully transformed. At the very least, that might prove a distraction, buying me more time.

It was a good thing that there was nothing in my Directives about acting in a C'tan's best interests. In the end that might be the only reason why I may retain my soul.

"Those C'tan don't sound particularly nice." Danny Hebert forced a smile on his face as he addressed me.

"C'tan... Nice? No… They consume… Stars… People… Souls… Designation Taylor Hebert… is a C'tan…"

"HERALD!" The baby Star Vampire screeched and glared at me.

Fortunately my gamble paid off. So far she was unable to tap into her considerable power reserves and use them at will. If she could, I had the sneaking suspicion that I would need a much longer repair period after being blown through the building.

I turned my cybernetic eyes to Taylor. "Hail the C'tan!"

"What's this?! All I want is to be a Hero! I'm… I'm not going to eat people or the sun!" The Star Vampire shouted at me.

A C'tan… Hero?!

The very thought did not compute.

"No… C'tan… has been content… with mere solar energy… after consuming souls…"

"No! Nope! No way! I'm not eating souls!" The C'tan shouted and waved her hands.

For a moment I though that she might be actually sincere, but immediately disregarded the idea as irrelevant. Sooner or later she would eat someone's soul and there would be no turning back. No matter what Designation Taylor Hebert believed right now.

Such was her nature.

Now to the second part of the plan… How the hell I was going to soothe a pissed off C'tan who might consider my little revelation a treason?


	3. Chapter 1 Parts 3&4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Worm or Warhammer 40K, they belong to their respective creators and/or copyright owners. I don't make any money from this story. It is written with no commercial aim in mind. It is not for sale or rent.**

 **Emerald Dawn**

 **Chapter 1: Meet your friendly local Necron Lord**

 **=ED=**

 **Part 3**

 **12 January 2011**

 **The Ship Graveyard**

 **Brockton Bay**

Building a single construction Scarab after scavenging a few of my artifacts for parts proved to be strangely relaxing. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that this was the first time since I arrived to this world that I wasn't in the presence of the C'tan… something that turned out to be unexpectedly simple to achieve.

Talking about her… The baby Star Vampire wasn't what I was expecting.

She was much, much more dangerous. Despite my pointedly un-subtle explanation of what she was, Taylor somehow convinced the locals that she wanted to be a Hero. While that wasn't an unheard tactic for either my kind or the C'tan, neither of us usually bothered with such shenanigans, though considering our current position, I shouldn't be really surprised. Taylor was still transforming into a Star Vampire. She had only a fraction of the power of one and I was unsure how much of that energy she could actually use right now.

As far as I was concerned, I was rather vulnerable for the time being too. My research of the local networks, which by the way had woefully inadequate protection, told me that there were parahumans on this world who could take me out, if I was caught unprepared, with few who might be able to do it even at place and time of my own choosing.

Of course that was correct if for some reason I engaged them by myself.

I had no intention of doing so. That was one of the main reasons why I was deep in a Ship Graveyard, the seagoing type. The place was reasonably secluded, provided access to the seafront so I could more easily build underwater extension to the base I had tentatively planned. More importantly, this place had heaps of raw resources even if they were of pathetic quality.

Currently I was in the middle of an abandoned tanker's cargo hold. It took some patching to ensure that it was hidden from the outside as well as the production of a few makeshift jammers, which would make sure that anyone scanning the place would see only what they expected, before I deemed this location as a suitable starting point.

Unfortunately, given the lack of resources, I had to start in a rather primitive fashion. The Construction Scarab was busy refining various pieces of scrap I was bringing it after I finished scanning the area for anything useful. At this rate, it would have the rare materials to start constructing a very old fashioned fusion reactor by the end of the day.

Once that was done and the Scarab had an independent power source, it would create a few more reactors, before replicating itself and increasing my construction force. Once that was well underway, the drones would start digging and build me a nice little cavern where the heart of the local base would be situated. It would contain additional reactors, energy storage as well as the facilities needed to create knock offs of modern necrodermis and gauss weaponry.

Then the only thing that I would need to start building up my army would be humans who would be transformed into more Necrons.

That was the plan anyway. It was guaranteed that the C'tan would do something to disrupt it, in order to maintain the deception she was running. At the same time I was going to have to do my best to subtly sabotage her efforts to ingrate herself to the locals.

Did I mention that I disliked the local humans?

After I tried to explain to them what the C'tan was and what she would eventually do to them, Taylor managed to convince them that all she wanted was to be a hero… I left an electronic sigh, when my mind scanned the relevant memories.

 **=ED=**

 _Accessing data… Playing back recording…_

 **11 January 2011**

 **Brockton General**

 **Brockton Bay**

"While she's healing a faster than expected, I can't detect anything else out of the ordinary." The armored hero, stated while playing with some kind of rather primitive scanner.

That was unfortunate. I pointedly glared at the man, this Amrsmaster.

"So there are no indication that Taylor here will suddenly eat our souls?" The other so called hero, a reasonably tall female wearing military uniform and a scarf made of the US flag hiding her face, smiled at the C'tan.

"I told you, I'm not some kind of Chutlly or something!" Taylor exclaimed. "All I've ever wanted is to be a Hero!" I could practically see the capital letter by the way she pronounced the last word.

"Your robot disagrees." Armsmaster stated, glancing in my direction.

I gave them a deadpan look. Duh.

"I've spoken with Dragon. She'll re-task a telescope for a look at the Sun, just to be on the safe side."

Well, the baby C'tan was currently here in the room with us so I doubted that they would find anything… Which was a problem. If they decided that she was harmless, that would simply not do. I was already surfing the networks and seeking the datalinks for all telescopes either on the surface or in orbit. A little creative editing would go a long way.

"I'm not a monster!" The C'tan growled. "It's his fault!" She pointed an accusing finger at me.

"My daughter is correct. She's the victim here after what happened at school!" Danny Hebert supported the being that wore his daughter's face.

"We'll see. I'll need to run more tests, but Ms. Hebert would need to come to my lab." Armsmaster ignored them both.

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

"Why do you believe him instead of me?" The C'tan asked and nodded my way.

"We aren't." Miss Militia spoke in a soothing tone. "We're simply investigating the situation and trying our best to determine the truth."

The Star Vampire huffed.

"We aren't going to take the word of a projection as truthful, without checking first." The heroine continued.

I was a projection now? How by the C'tan did that work?! I was getting to like the locals less and less with each passing moment.

"Herald! Stop telling tales! I'm not a monster! Tell them!" The C'tan snapped at me.

I would have rolled my eyes if I could.

"Designation Taylor Hebert… isn't a monster. She is C'tan." I rasped making everyone, but the Star Vampire flinch. That warmed my non-existent heart.

"Herald! Get out! I just want to be a hero! Is that too much to ask?!" Taylor groaned.

I was happy to obey that order and phased out, before leaving the building. It was time to start rebuilding the Necron war machine, though first I left behind a tiny observation drone.

"I'll admit that you've had a rather… peculiar power." Miss Militia chuckled once she was sure I was gone.

"Tell me about it." The C'tan made a great impression of sulking.

"Will you two agree for Taylor to come to the PRT for power testing once she's released from this place?" The heroine asked.

"I'll need to scan her with some better equipment too." Armsmaster grunted. "If you agree to it. " He added after Miss Militia sent him an irritated look.

"Well think about it, once Taylor is better."

"I'll implore you to do it at the first convenient opportunity, Mr. Hebert." Miss Militia spoke. "Taylor here is obviously a Master with the ability to call what is obviously a rather advanced android with unknown capabilities and a mind of its own. Not to mention what it believes to be true. The Wards exist to help new parahumans learn more about their powers and how to control them. Given the situation, I believe that joining would be in Taylor's best interest, especially if she lacks complete control of her projection."

"I'm all for joining!" The C'tan exclaimed, adding a huge dose of excitement to her voice.

 _Playback paused…_

 **=ED=**

 **Part 4**

 **13 January 2011**

 **Brockton General**

 **Brockton Bay**

By the time the C'tan decided to recall me, I had two fusion reactors operational as well as sic Scarabs. Four of the latter were busy digging, while the other two were gathering scrap for processing and tasked into multiplying once there were sufficient resources on hand.

All in all, it was a decent start considering that I started building practically empty handed.

I phased into Taylor's hospital room after scanning the whole hospital for any unpleasant surprises. The only thing of note were the pair of armed humans guarding her door and the two guards at the entrance of the building.

"At your command." I rasped once I was inside. My sensors swept the room again, detecting a lot of low tech listening devices and cameras. Even more surprising, there were at least half a dozen tiny devices, which were quite more advanced than expected for even tinker tech.

That was concerning on many levels.

"Herald..." The Star Vampire hissed at me. "Explain yourself."

She appeared to be rather peeved with me. I prepared myself to go drag the people guarding the door if she went off the rails and offer them as a snack, while considering my answer. Her question was rather vague after all. But first… A carefully modulated energy pulse fried most of the bugs. Then I swept the rest with targeted burst, taking care not to fry the medical equipment. Another scan later revealed that the place was clear of any more bugs.

The sheer volume of listening devices in here was concerning. It might be a good news as a first step of containing the C'tan. It could also be the beginning of something more sinister… for Taylor. As long as I got to keep my soul I would be tickled pink anyway.

Now lets feed whoever was listening from outside some interesting titbits of information.

"I was… Around… Exploring the city… Evaluating sites for temporally and permanent base..." True enough. Technically. At this stage I was unclear what status the facility in the Docks would have.

"Not that!" Taylor glared at me. Disappointing. Her glare wasn't as good as even a regular Necron trooper, much less the C'tan she was.

"Inquiry not clear..." I played along.

"What's that Star Vampire and C-something stuff! I don't eat people!"

"Souls..." I corrected her.

"That! Explain!"

"You're a C'tan." I stated the obvious.

"I'm a teenager!"

"That too..." If it was programed to do it, my voice would have been positively leaking exasperation.

"Scion damned robot..."

"Necron Lord..." I corrected her again. I simply couldn't help it. That probably had something to do with the fact that I no longer felt fear as a biological organism could. It was a cold, distant thing unable to paralyze my decision making or body. It was only present because apparently factoring it in could increase the odds of survival in certain circumstances in Necron Lord class units. Needless to say, the rank and file had that part of their personality, if it had survived that is, removed.

Not to mention that for some reason riling probably the eventually most powerful being on this planet gave me some kind of morbid satisfaction.

Damn it, my personality core was messed up…

 _Running self-diagnostics… Scanning Personality Matrix…_

"Enough!" The C'tan growled at me. An accusing finger pointed at my chest plate. "I want an explanation. Now!"

"Long version? Short version?" I asked.

"The truthful one!"

"Truth? It's a matter… off perspective..." I stated truthfully.

"You're impossible!"

Good to know.

"Who do you think that I'm a that Ctan thingy?" The Star Vampire asked.

"Sensors. I can detect C'tan energy in you..." I stated the obvious.

"Armsmaster sad I was fine!" Taylor glared at me.

"His was a primitive sensor..." I needed to tweak my voice modulator. It didn't allow me to add any emotion when I spoke, well expect the dread that my speech pattern inspired in most mortal things.

"But that was Armsmaster! He said he built the sensor!" The C'tan almost whined.

"Primitive technology." I scoffed. Even with bullshit tinkers all around, Necron tech was the best. Or it would be once I had a proper base running and enough decent resources to start building the nice toys.

I glared at her, running my human and C'tan behavior prediction programs. Needless to say, the latter seldom worked when the Star Vampires were around, but it indeed helped the Necrons when we betrayed them at the end of the War in Heaven.

 _Stressed. Under the effect of various medications. Angry. Confused. Frustrated. Scared. Holds Designation Armsmaster in high esteem._

 _C'tan behavioral simulation error… Requires unrestricted Gold Level access… Current User has Restricted Gold Level access pending resolution of conflict in Personality Matrix…_

So much for that software. It didn't tell me anything I already knew.

The C'tan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Herald, answer my questions. I need to know the truth." She actually pleaded.

If I didn't know better I would have taken her for a confused and scared human teenager. Bloody scheming C'tan and their shenanigans.

"Where should I start, Master?" I asked.

"Don't call me that! I'm Taylor." The C'tan's mood shifted again, this time into irritation. "Start from the beginning."

"Millions of years ago, there was a short lived race called the Necrotyr…" I started as instructed.

The was going to be one _long, long_ story.

 **=ED=**

"Herald, that's one messed up galaxy you come from." The C'tan gave me a pitying look and I haven't even reached the latest and most fucked up part of the story, a.k.a. the present from which I was plucked up and thrown on this primitive version of Earth.

"It gets worse..."

Taylor groaned. "Worse than me apparently being Chutly's little sister?"

"Yes."

"Why are you obeying me anyway?! Your people apparently betrayed the C'tan." The baby Star Vampire asked the most relevant question.

"We were… Betrayed first… C'tan took our souls… Old Primary Directives... Came online... Unexplainable reason… Serve the C'tan..." I told her the truth… from a certain point of view.

"So I'm slowly becoming a soul eating eldrich horror, who has a super murder bot at her beck and call." Taylor moaned and shook. "No!" Her head snapped up and she looked me in the eyes. "That's not acceptable. I will be a hero! The best one there is and I'll clean up this city! I'll prove to everyone that I'm not a monster and that I won't become one ever!" The C'tan declared.

In my opinion she was laying it thick for whoever was listening to us.

"Say something?" She looked at me.

"Something?"

"I will be a hero and you will help me!"

"By your command." I rasped.

"The power testing will be interesting… You won't kill anyone, when it comes to it, right?"

Power testing? It took me a microsecond to find the relevant data.

That would be an issue.

"Standing Primary Directive to all Necron forces… Eliminate any outside element possessing Necron technology or credible information about it..."

"What." The C'tan looked at me blankly.

"Protectorate power testing… Unacceptable risk… Elimination of local assets possessing detailed information about this units capabilities is mandatory…" I read aloud the Directive that popped up on my HUD once the topic became relevant.

"Why me? Why do I need to deal with this crap?!" Taylor moaned.

"C'tan." I stated.


End file.
